Late mistakes lead to Fleetwood’s first loss
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Rick Woelfel — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
PENNSBURG — Coaches talk a lot about avoiding mistakes. What happened to Fleetwood in the late going against Upper Perkiomen Friday night offered a vivid example of why that’s the case.
The Tigers saw a 10-point fourth-quarter lead evaporate in falling to the Indians 28-24 in a non-league game at Bill Keeney Stadium.
A botched snap on a punt and a big penalty on a punt return set up two Upper Perk (1-2) touchdowns in the fourth quarter. A fumble on the Tigers’ ensuing drive sent them home with their first loss in three starts.
Head coach Steve Pangburn offered a straightforward assessment.
“We got beat in all three phases tonight,” he said.
Pangburn had a hunch his troops might encounter rough seas. On-field practice time this past week was limited because of the heat and humidity.
“This week was terrible,” he said. “We probably practiced a total of two hours.”
Despite the limited prep time, the Tigers (2-1) seemed to have the upper hand as the fourth quarter got underway.
Czion Bickle, who finished with 182 rushing yards, scored his second touchdown to give his team a 10-point advantage with 5:09 left in the third quarter.
Then Fleetwood’s fortunes began unraveling.
On the Tigers’ next possession a botched snap on a punt left William Maurek running for cover before shanking a punt that put Upper Perk in business at the Fleetwood 40.
The Indians took seven plays to cover the distance.
Zachary Swartz scored his second touchdown of the game on a 7-yard run with 10:34 left in regulation.
Fleetwood punted following its next possession and again the Indians got a boost when a late hit at the end of the return gave the Indians 15 additional yards and a first down at the Tigers’ 25.
Two plays later quarterback Logan O’Donnell scrambled out of traffic and covered the full 25 yards for what proved to be the winning touchdown.
With 7:32 still to go the Tigers had time to regain the lead. They drove into Upper Perk territory but on second-and-12 from the 36 a botched exchange between Brickle and quarterback Jack Riffle resulted in a fumble and a turnover.
“That was supposed to a be a reverse,” Pangburn said. “It was a bad exchange. Plus, we had too much interior penetration for the play to even probably work.”
Fleetwood had one final shot with just under two minutes left but quickly gave up the ball on downs.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Fleetwood | 7 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 24 |
| Upper Perkiomen | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 28 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Fleetwood | Brickle, 15 run (Maurek kick) | 9:37 |
| 2 | Upper Perkiomen | Weiss, 1 run (Watkins kick) | 10:15 |
| 2 | Fleetwood | Thomas, 2 run (Maurek kick) | 1:47 |
| 2 | Upper Perkiomen | Schwartz, 5 run (Watkins kick) | 49.9 |
| 3 | Fleetwood | Maurek, 26 FG | 7:30 |
| 3 | Fleetwood | Brickle, 55 run (Maurek kick) | 5:09 |
| 4 | Upper Perkiomn | Schwartz, 7 run (Watkins kick) | 10:34 |
| 4 | Upper Perkiomen | O’Donnell, 25 run (Warkins kick) | 7:32 |
Team statistics
| Fleetwood | Upper Perkiomen | |
| First downs | 11 | 7 |
| Rushes-yards | 34-187 | 38-121 |
| Passing yards | 67 | 93 |
| Total yards | 254 | 214 |
| Passes | 6-16-0 | 2-10-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| Punts-average | 3-25.0 | 6-30.5 |
| Penalties-yards | 5-35 | 2-15 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Fleetwood: Brickle 23-182; Thomas 5-11; Killian 2-1; Perion 1- (-2); Maddocks 3- (-5).
Upper Perkiomen: Schwartz 23-63; Weiss 5-32; O’Donnell 3-15; Krier 2-11; Farrington 1-0; Void 1-0.
PASSING
Fleetwood: Riffle 6-16-0, 67.
Upper Perkiomen: O’Donnell 2-10-0, 93.
RECEIVING
Fleetwood: Brickle 2-25; McFarland 2-15; Moore 1-18; Maddocks 1-9.Upper Perkiomen: Void 2-93.
